The Council of the Crystal King is the twelfth episode of the fifteenth season of Ninjago and the 192nd episode overall. It aired on May 20, 2022 on LEGO's YouTube channel.
Extended: Now disguised as the Mechanic, Lloyd follows a Crystal Spider through a secret subway tunnel - the Ninjas track him from above, but the real Mechanic escapes their custody. When Lloyd finds himself at a Crystal Temple with the Council of the Crystal King, Kabuki Mask plays surveillance footage of the real Mechanic and exposes Lloyd's identity... and she also reveals her own as Harumi, Lloyd's evil ex.[2]
LEGO's YouTube channel: While the Ninja continue to track Lloyd as he heads to the Council of the Crystal King, the Mechanic breaks free and makes his way to the Council of the Crystal King as well. During the Mechanic's fight with the Ninja, a Crystal Spider video recorded the real Mechanic and informed the Crystal King!
Is Lloyd headed into a trap? Who is the Crystal King?[3]
Meanwhile, the other four ninja continue to track Lloyd's progress in the Noodle Truck of Crime. The real Mechanic is tied up at the back of the truck, whilst Jay and Cole find a box full of noodle soup. Kai and Zane then stop the truck near the entrance to the abandoned airline. At the same time, Jay has Zane put his noodle soup on the instant noodle maker. The Mechanic stealthily shrinks himself out of his bonds by letting his robo arm loose.
Back at the Ninjago Metro, a crystal spider opens up a secret entrance on the wall. Hesitating, Lloyd narrowly makes it through the closing wall and enters a vehicle which travels at a high speed that the other ninja are unable to catch up with.
As Kai drives the truck, the Mechanic breaks free and fights Jay and Cole. The Mechanic then manages to stop the Noodle Truck of Crime, tumbling it over and escapes to the sewers, heading underground to the Ninjago Metro, while the other ninja give chase.
On an underground platform, the ninja are unable to locate the Mechanic. Jay notices light at the end of the tunnel, hinting at a train. Silently lowering himself from the ceiling, the Mechanic pushes the ninja in front of the oncoming train. Jay goes under the train while the others Spinjitzu to the sides. During the ensuing fight, the Mechanic overpowers all four ninja, and manages to escape once again by hitching a ride on a train for a meeting with the Crystal King. Cole attempts to warn Lloyd, but the velocity of the vehicle is interfering with the signal, so there is nothing else the ninja can do. Unbeknownst to them, a crystal spider had recorded their conversation, and left to report it to its master.
Arriving at the Crystal Temple, Lloyd walks through a hallway with an army of Vengestone-carved soldiers flanking a narrow walkway. He then encounters the other villains in a meeting chamber, assembled by the Kabuki Mask: Pythor, Aspheera, and Vangelis, alongside Mister F, the newest upgraded model of Mr. E.
The Kabuki Mask then appears and meets with the assembled villains. He reveals that he is merely the Crystal King's servant, and decides that his plans and intentions will not be revealed to them right now; as someone in their council is an impostor. Aspheera accuses Vangelis because of his mask, whilst he accuses Mister F for his helmet.
However, a crystal spider shows a video of the ninja from earlier, revealing that Lloyd was disguised as the Mechanic. Lloyd attempts to escape, but Pythor catches him using his Anacondrai invisibility, so he uses his Spinjitzu to fight the villains.
Mister F then fires a blast at Lloyd, knocking him out of his Spinjitzu. Kabuki Mask then approaches him, mocking Lloyd about coming all the way to seek the truth, curious that the Green Ninja couldn't guess who he is, or if he could feel it. He then provides him with a clue: a familiar lullaby. While Kabuki Mask slowly approaches Lloyd while singing, Vangelis, Pythor, Aspheera, and Mister F gather around him, as he's losing consciousness.
The Green Ninja watches as the Kabuki Mask slowly removes the mask from his face, and his voice changes to that of a female's. When the mask is fully removed, Lloyd expressed horror and disbelief as the person's true identity is revealed to be Harumi before he finally blacks out.
The Kabuki Mask's line "We have an imposter among us" is likely a reference to the game Among Us. The proclamation also happens at a meeting, and the villains start throwing accusations on who's the imposter, akin to meetings in the game.
This isn't out of character for Harumi, as in her initial final episode, "Saving Faith," she calls Mystake an imposter for shapeshifting her appearance.
The inactive Crystal Warriors standing in multiple rows is similar to the Stone Army and the Terracotta Stone warriors from China.
This is the second episode Lloyd goes undercover, only to end up exposed and captured. The first is "The Snake King."
In both episodes, Pythor was involved in the villainous factions Lloyd was captured by. They also both involve "King" in their title.
This is the second episode where a main villain from a previous season thought to be dead returns, under the guise of a mysterious individual, the first being Pythor in the "The Curse of the Golden Master."
This is Mister F's first appearance in the series.
In a strange parallel in both Crystalized and Tournament of Elements, Pythor firstappears with a prison uniform on his upper torso, only to lose it in his next appearance and instead wear his Anacondrai vest.
Though it's likely Harumi gave it to him like she gave Aspheera her new staff and Vangelis his mask, hat and wings.
Around 4 months before the release of the episode, Tommy Andreasen has stated about Python and Aspheera's possible relationship that "I’m not sure they would get along well. Too much ego on each side."[4] This was confirmed in the episode itself.
From the interaction Pythor seems to be annoyed by Aspheera's desire for revenge, which is rather ironic, since he said in "Never Trust a Snake" that he loved revenge, and in addition of him joining the resurrected villains in "Day of the Departed" after Yang mentioned that they would have their revenge.
This episode marks the first physical appearance of Harumi since "Saving Faith," 100 episodes later, and also her first physical appearance in a WildBrain episode, not counting her avatar in "Stop, Drop and Side Scroll."
Errors[]
In the picture on the title card, the real Mechanic is placed instead of Lloyd. He also has a nindroid eye on the right half of his head instead of the left.
Zane's lips are slightly out of sync when he tells Cole that Lloyd is travelling at a speed greater than the maximum velocity of an ordinary subway train.
When Jay's lighting nearly zaps Kai and Zane in the noodle truck, Kai gasps using Jay's voice.
When the crystal spider shows the clip of the ninja fighting the real Mechanic, the train appears to come much later than the actual fight.
Videos[]
LEGO® NINJAGO - Season 4 Episode 12- The Council of the Crystal King